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A Global Measure of Judicial Independence, 1948–2012

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2022

Drew A. Linzer  and
Jeffrey K. Staton
Drew A. Linzer
Affiliation:
Emory University
Jeffrey K. Staton
Affiliation:
Emory University
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Abstract

We present a new cross-national measure of de facto judicial independence, which is available for 200 countries from 1948 to 2012. To do so, we introduce a statistical measurement model for uncovering latent concepts commonly encountered in time-series, cross-sectional analyses in comparative politics and international relations. Our approach addresses unique challenges that arise in these data: temporal dependence in the observed and unobserved variables, conceptual boundedness in the latent quantity, and substantial missing data and measurement error in the observable indicators. The resulting measures match a common conceptual definition of independence with greater reliability than existing alternatives. The model is extensible to many concepts in comparative politics and international relations.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Law and Courts , Volume 3 , Issue 2 , Fall 2015 , pp. 223 - 256
Copyright
© 2015 by the Law and Courts Organized Section of the American Political Science Association. All rights reserved.

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